Finally, Steins Gate 0 has chosen to show an anxious, more complex Daru. Until now, he’s primarily been a comic relief character, but episode 15 proved that there’s far more depth to him than meets the eye.
Causality
Frustrated by a lack of romantic progress between Yuki and Daru, Suzuha pushes him to make the first move. While this might seem like a throwaway episode, it reinforces something we’ve seen before: you cannot change the future via action or inaction.
Although it was funny seeing Daru act like a ladies man for a while, Yuki wasn’t impressed. In the original timeline, she fell in love with Daru for who he was, not who he pretended to be. Everything that makes Daru himself: the laziness, the sense of humour, even his creepiness; this was what drew Yuki in. By changing his personality, Daru only delays the inevitable.
A Seismic Shift
Okabe hasn’t realized that the team is changing around him. He spent this episode meeting with Leskinen, but Maho and friends are the ones who put the real effort in. Maybe, in his own way, he’s still trying to escape from the whole time travel situation. Perhaps a trip to America would do him good?
It’s certainly going to require a change in personality. This new, reinvented Okabe is meek, but as Leskinen notes, that won’t work overseas. It’s possible that Okabe might go abroad, but find he needs the help of Hououin Kyouma after all, perfectly positioning him to take charge upon his return. Of course, this would be difficult to pull off at this point in the season.
Maternal Instincts
No matter how you look at it, Steins Gate 0 has always been about chasing comfort. Okabe runs from Steins Gate at every opportunity. Daru avoids tasks he knows need to be done. Maho tries to avoid upstaging her rival. Of course, there’s a more obvious thread that runs through this season.
Everybody wants a mother. Now, some cases are clearer than others: Kagari and Suzuha, for instance. However, we’ve seen Okabe receive help from his mom too. Bizarrely, Daru leans upon Suzuha in this way. In fact, the only person seemingly content is Mayuri, although she’s always been the de-facto parent of the team, despite her childlike traits.
So what does this mean? It speaks to a lack of confidence on all sides. Looking for approval for one’s every action is a childish thing to do, but in difficult times, the right decision to make isn’t always obvious. The ability to take leadership, make difficult choices, and act, confident in your decisions is one that will prove invaluable to the cast as the season progresses.
